CLERKS OFFICE UPDATE 2019 EL PASO APPELLATE ADVOCACY SEMINAR BAR - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

CLERK’S OFFICE UPDATE 2019 EL PASO APPELLATE ADVOCACY SEMINAR BAR ASSOCIATION OF THE FIFTH FEDERAL CIRCUIT Lyle Cayce Clerk of Court November 21, 2019 1

AGENDA • Circuit Overview • CM/ECF Filing Initiatives • Practice Notes and References • Statistical Review • Questions 2

CIRCUIT OVERVIEW 3

FIFTH CIRCUIT’S NINE DISTRICT COURTS Louisiana Districts : Eastern District, New Orleans Chief Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown - Clerk Bill Blevins Middle District, Baton Rouge Chief Judge Shelly D. Dick - Clerk Mike McConnell Western District, Shreveport Chief Judge S. Maurice Hicks, Jr. - Clerk Tony Moore Mississippi Districts : Northern District, Oxford Chief Judge Sharion Aycock - Clerk David Crews Southern District, Jackson Chief Judge Daniel P. Jordan, III - Clerk Arthur Johnston Texas Districts : Eastern District, Beaumont Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap - Clerk David O’Toole Northern District, Dallas Chief Judge Barbara Lynn - Clerk Karen Mitchell Southern District, Houston Chief Judge Lee Rosenthal - Clerk David Bradley Western District, San Antonio Chief Judge Orlando Garcia - Clerk Jeannette Clack 4

FIFTH CIRCUIT JUDGES 17 Authorized judges (16 Active and 9 Senior* Judges): • Houston: Judges Reavley*, King*, Jones, Smith, Elrod, and Costa • Austin: Judges Benavides*, Owen, Willett, and Oldham • Dallas: Judges Haynes and Ho • San Antonio: Judge Higginbotham* • Jackson: Judges Jolly*, Barksdale* , Southwick, and Graves • Shreveport: Chief Judge Stewart • New Orleans: Judges Davis*, Wiener*, Dennis, Clement*, Higginson and Engelhardt • Baton Rouge: Judge Duncan 1 Vacancy: Mississippi (Judge Ozerden Nominated) • 5

CM/ECF FILING INITIATIVES • Attorney Pending Deadlines/Filings • Utilities Bar Functions: – Bar Renewals – Electronic Record on Appeal (EROA) – Brief Templates – Quality Control of Briefs • Automatic Compliance Review at Docketing 6

NEW FEATURE SHOW PENDING DEADLINES 7

PENDING DEADLINES/FILINGS 8

UTILITIES BAR FUNCTIONS 9

BAR RENEWAL 10

RENEWAL NOTICE 11

ELECTRONIC RECORD 12

ELECTRONIC RECORD VOLUMES 13

CREATE PORTFOLIO 14

BRIEF TEMPLATES 15

BRIEF TEMPLATES 16

CHECK PDF DOCUMENT 17

COMPLIANCE REVIEW Automated Scan Process Test Types Submit electronically filed documents to Case Number/Caption • • an automated quality control service Court Name/Originating Court Name • that looks for potential defects upon Brief Type (Appellant, Appellee, Reply) • filing. Currently only the Appellant's Volume Limitations (Word Count, etc.) • Brief, Appellee's Brief, and Reply Scanned Document Brief. Ultimately we will do this for all. • ROA Citations Automatically report defects to the • • appropriate staff member, greatly Social Security Numbers • reducing the time required to "quality Signature • control" (QC) the document for defects. The required sections of the brief (e.g. • If the defects are sufficiently serious to Certificate of Interested Persons, • warrant rejection of the filing, the Table of Contents/Authorities, defects are automatically included in the Statement of Jurisdiction, etc.). deficiency form (BR-5 docketing letter). 18

IMMEDIATE NOTICE OF POSSIBLE ERRORS 19

RESULTS • 4562 Briefs Docketed (1 Nov 18 – 4 Oct 19): – 1125 Docketed with Errors – 24.66% Error Rate – 1258 Corrected After Errors – 27.58% Correction Rate • Over 500 Hours of Staff Work Saved. 20

PRACTICE NOTES AND REFERENCES • Common Errors • Practice Tips • Filing Resources and Assistance 21

COMMON ERRORS Incorrect Events and Reliefs (Searchable list on ECF Page). • – To Upload a Sealed Document You Must Use the Event “ECF Motion and/or Document Filed Under Temporary Seal” in the Category of “Under Seal.” – Extension Beyond 30 Days Requires a Motion. No Appearance Form. • Missing/Incorrect ROA or Authority Citations (Cite Link). • Missing Certificate of Compliance on motions, responses, replies, • rehearings, etc. Missing Certificate of Conference. • Incomplete Transcript Order Forms (Required even if transcripts are • not needed). Incorrect Caption Format. • Must File record Excerpts Separately. Do Not Attach to Brief. • 22

PRACTICE TIPS Register Early and Keep Information Updated: Member Fifth Circuit Bar, PACER • Enrollment for the Fifth Circuit, and filed, updated Appearance Form. Renewals: Every 5 years. Notice sent to registered email (Keep Updated). • Notice of Docketing Activity (NDA): Check for any Attachments. If think incorrectly filed, • don’t refile. Please call. Docketing Letters Contain All the Necessary Information. • Extensions: • All requests for extension must include justification. • Level 1 Extension = Only 30 days total. Must file motion for extension beyond 30 • days. Court Considers Criminal Cases where Defendant is Sentenced to 24 months or less • as “Short Release” cases, which are closely monitored. Reply Briefs: FRAP 31(a)(1) changed to allow 21 days for filing of Reply brief from filing • of Appellee’s brief. Court greatly disfavors requests for extension to file Reply brief. 23

RESOURCES AND ASSISTANCE • Website: www.ca5.uscourts.gov • Fifth Circuit Life of the Appeal Flow Chart • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) • Practitioner Guide • Guide to Filing Emergency Motions • Brief Guidance and Sample Briefs • Record Reference Guide (Cite link) • Case Management Teams Contact List • Help Desk: 877.232-1038 or Webmaster_ca5@ca5.uscourts.gov 24

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CASE TEAMS CONTACT LIST 26

STATISTICAL REVIEW 1 July 2018 – 30 June 2019 27

NEW APPEALS Circuit 2018 2019 DC 932 965 1 ST 1,226 1,339 2 ND 4,212 4,087 3 RD 2,972 2,933 4 TH 4,211 4,470 5 TH 7,347 7,164 6 TH 4,304 4,194 7 TH 2,800 2,650 8 TH 2,811 2,768 9 TH 10,661 10,137 10 TH 1,836 1,701 11 TH 5,908 5,376 TOTAL 49,220 47,784 28

NEW APPEALS BY STATE 2018 2019 MS 6.1% MS 6.4% Other 7.7% Other 8.5% TX 69.9% LA 18.1% LA 15.2% TX 68.1% TX = 5001 LA = 1331 Other = 565 MS = 450 TX = 5007 LA = 1092 Other = 608 MS = 457 29

NEW APPEALS BY CASE TYPE Criminal 30.7% Prisoner Appeals 27.5% Successive Habeas Corpus 7.0% IFP Mandamus 1.9% Federal Question 8.4% Diversity 4.8% Mandamus 0.4% Civil Rights 8.5% Bankruptcy 1.0% U.S. Civil 1.7% Other 0.6% Agency 0.7% BIA 6.2% Miscellaneous 0.6% 30

STATISTICAL SNAPSHOT For the 12 month period ending June 30, 2019 Cases Procedural Total Merits Merits Merits % Placed on % Reversed Commenced Terminations Terminations Terminations Terminations the Oral After Oral on Briefs Argument Hearing Calendar 2,197 424 1,859 227 1,380 12.2% 4.9% Criminal U.S. Prisoner Petitions 612 300 399 20 327 5.0% 6.1% 204 85 100 47 35 47.0% 19.5% Other U.S. Civil Private Prisoner 1,359 686 719 56 562 7.8% 3.6% Petitions Other Private Civil 1,502 763 780 416 233 53.3% 12.5% 74 27 48 29 13 60.4% 14.3% Bankruptcy Administrative Agency 505 222 224 43 153 19.1% 2.0% 671 214 523 2 478 0.3% 0.0% Original Proceedings* Miscellaneous 40 2 0 0 38 0.0% 0.0% 7,164 2,723 4,652 840 3,219 18.1% 6.5% TOTAL Total Total Number Number of Number of Number of Number of of Petitions Panel Petitions for Published Unpublished for Panel Rehearings Rehearing Number Opinions Opinions Rehearing Granted En Banc Granted 473 2,397 234 15 190 6 Fifth Circuit *Including successive habeas corpus and pro se mandamus petitions 31

CASE PROCESSING TIMES 2018-2019 • Notice of Appeal to Filing of Last Brief: 4.9 Months • Last Brief to Hearing or Submission: 5.3 Months • Hearing to Final Disposition: 1.3 Months • Submission to Final Disposition 0.5 Months • Notice of Appeal to CA 5 Final Disposition: 9.1 Months The median time from filing of the Notice of Appeal to CA 5 final disposition in oral argument cases is 13.9 Months . 32

Median Time Intervals in Months by Case Type 2018-2019 Docket Date to Oral Last Brief to Hearing to NOA to CA5 Argument or Submission NOA to Filing Hearing or Final Submission to Final on Briefs of Last Brief Submission Disposition Final Disposition Disposition Prisoner Petitions n/a 6.5 8.3 0.7 0.2 9.7 Other Civil Appeals n/a 4.5 5.5 1.5 1.5 11.2 Criminal Appeals n/a 5.9 4.0 1.0 0.5 9.1 Bankruptcy n/a 4.1 5.8 1.6 1.9 10.8 Administrative Agency n/a 3.9 7.6 1.5 0.9 12.6 Board of Immigration n/a 3.7 8.0 1.9 0.9 12.7 Orig. Proceedings/ Misc. Appl. 1.2 n/a n/a 1.1 0.2 1.5 33

5 TH CIRCUIT BAR • 29,713 Total Active ECF Filers (Attorney & Non- Attorney) • 26,673 Total Active Bar Members • 23,726 Total Active Bar Members Registered for ECF • 14,777 Active ECF Filer Accounts Created in the Last 5 Years 34

QUESTIONS? 35